Progressive disclosure

Progressive disclosure is an interaction design principle popularized by Jakob Nielsen: show only the most important options first, and offer the larger set of specialized options upon request. It resolves the tension between power (a full set of features) and simplicity (easy to learn and use); the common case stays simple while everything remains reachable.

The principle generalizes beyond user interfaces to anything with limited attention. Anthropic calls progressive disclosure “the core design principle” behind Agent Skills, and I think it is a great way to organize instructions and context for AI agents in general; see Context engineering.